Farmer’s met at Belmont Farm to begin their rally (Image: Lotti O’Brien)
Furious farmers have blasted Rachel Reeves’ Family Farm tax as “utter madness” as they urge Labour to “re-do their sums”. Agricultural workers gathered in Belmont Farm, north London this morning where and industry professionals spoke on the Inheritance Tax that farmers are facing.
Fourth generation farmer Alan Hughes, from Shropshire, has suggested that the Chancellor should “go back to school” as her calculations do not add up.
Mr Hughes, 36, told the Express.co.uk: “I’m here because we are a small farm of 300 acres. We only own 65 out of the 300 and we rent the rest. Yet, we will be paying this inheritance tax on 65 acres, a small farm where we have to run two diversifications to make ends meet.
“To Rachel Reeves I’d say you’d better go back to school and do some maths because by my figures she hasn’t got a clue.”
Mr Hughes spoke on stage during the meet-up this morning, where he spoke about the difficulties him and his family will face when the tax takes effect in April 2026.
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Alan Hughes, a fourth generation farmer (Image: Lotti O’Brien)
He continued: “We couldn’t afford to pass it on at the moment, we can’t break even on the farm. I have to run two farm diversifications to cover the cost. The supermarkets are making millions off us for having a product for two weeks, which takes us two years to produce for less than the cost of production.
“It’s utter madness and they’re jeopardising national food security for this country.”
Labour plans to impose a 20% inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million – or £3 million in some circumstances if two parents are passing on the farm.
Following this decision, an e-petition has amassed more than 148,000 signatures calling to keep the current inheritance tax exemptions for working farms, leading to MPs debating the topic today.
Marc Harvey, a ruminant nutritionist, gave a speech on the Family Farm Tax today (Image: Lotti O’Brien)
Marc Harvey, an animal nutritionist from Cornwall, mirrored the struggle of the Shropshire farmer explaining how his family farm at home “just can’t afford to pay me”. Speaking to the Express.co.uk after giving a speech at the rally, Mr Harvey explained how buying land itself resulted in a debt which “crippled” his business for 20 years, and they’re now going to be “slapped with another huge bill of inheritance tax”.
“It will just stop farms expanding, it will stop farms progressing.
“The very best of us are only making 10% return per year profit, so we’re making, what, £40,000 a year profit at the end of it. So, if we’re slapped with a huge inheritance tax bill, the numbers don’t add up.”
He continued: “What would I say to Rachel Reeves? I would, in a polite way, say you’ve got to redo your sums, because the sums you made up to bring in the inherent tax are just miles out. It’s the wrong way round. It’s almost as if they confused the acres to hectares.”
Another passionate agricultural worker at the rally believes that could save farming. Jack Nixon, 35, told the Express.co.uk: “It will affect everyone. It will affect my kids, a lot of friends and a lot of people I work for.”
He said the tax has “got to get going, all of it,” adding that business will slow down when the levy hits.
Jack Nixon brought down three tractors to take part in the protest (Image: Lotti O’Brien)
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The Reform UK leader was the last to speak at the pre-rally meet-up this morning, announcing that his party would “reverse” the “death tax” if they were elected into government.
Mr Farage said: “I’m pleased to see the campaign is ramping up. It’s growing right across the country.
“The message I’ve been putting to them, I think they’re listening too, which is 100 Labour MPs now represent rural seats – if they see local communities getting behind these families, they’re going to start getting scared, and they’re going to start putting pressure on No 10, and let’s face it, they’re in pretty big trouble already.
“So I think if this campaign is persistent and peaceful, they can get change.”